Robert Crimo III
Robert Crimo III, the 22-year-old charged with murdering seven people and injuring dozens of others during a Fourth of July parade, made his first appearance in court on Tuesday since he was indicted. The prosecution and defense hashed out details over discovery in an Illinois court, but they did not yet settle on a possible trial date, according to local outlets and reporters.
The state announced that they had 2,500 pages of written discovery, said CBS News’ Maddy Wierus.
-Suspect Robert Crimo III is present in court.
-The prosecution has gathered 2,500 pages of written discovery so far. They also have videos, photos and audio recordings.
-Defense does not want to set a trial date yet — need more time to go through the prosecution’s discovery.
— Maddy Wierus (@MaddyReports) November 1, 2022
“You have information about all of the victims,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart reportedly said. “You have information about all of the witnesses, you have a downtown business district that has surveillance videos of their own. You have every police officer who spoke to a witness. You have every police officer who’s gathering information. And so all of that information needs to be tendered to the defense in an orderly and catalog way. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
Judge Victoria A. Rossetti listens during Robert E. Crimo III’s hearing.
Crimo’s public defender Anton Trizna argued that it did not make sense to have another court date so soon because of all the material they had to review and organize, according to The Chicago Tribune.
Another case management hearing is set for Jan. 31.
Denise Pesina, mother of Robert E. Crimo III, listening to Judge Victoria A. Rossetti during the hearing.
Rinehart reportedly said after court that cops are gathering and looking at surveillance footage from stores near the shooting location.
Crimo has pleaded not guilty to charges. Prosecutors said he’s the person who opened fire on the parade from the roof of a building in Highland Park, Illinois, killing seven people: Jacquelyn Sundheim, Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, Katherine Goldstein, Irina McCarthy, Kevin McCarthy, Stephen Straus, and Eduardo Uvaldo.
Denise Pesina, left, of Robert Crimo, parents of Robert E. Crimo III, leave after their son’s second hearing.
After the shooting, Crimo allegedly fled downstairs and dropped a Smith & Wesson M&P-15 semi-automatic rifle. He wore women’s clothing in order to blend in during the escape, deputies have said.
In a hearing shortly after the shooting, Assistant State’s Attorney Ben Dillon said numerous surveillance videos — including cellphone videos — captured the defendant on the day in question. One such video, Dillon said, showed that Crimo used an “outside fire escape staircase” to gain access to the building where he eventually set up, aimed, and rained gunfire on the unsuspecting patriotic crowd.
Robert E. Crimo III, signals as he leaves after his second hearing.
The prosecutor said Crimo told police he “dressed up like a girl and used makeup to cover-up his tattoos because people recognized him.” The defendant allegedly said he fired one full 30-round magazine, dropped it, and replaced it, fired another 30 rounds, dropped the second magazine, and replaced it again. At the scene, Dillon said, police recovered a total of 83 “bent shell casings.”
An Illinois grand jury indicted Crimo on 117 charges, first and foremost being 21 counts of murder in the first degree (three counts of murder for each of the slain victims).
Colin Kalmbacher contributed to this report.
[Images via AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, Pool]
